Feature Story

Feature Story

Get off the ice this summer

By Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS

Telling players to get off the ice during the summer doesn’t usually make me too popular with the hockey school instructors. To be clear, I am not recommending that you avoid skating altogether this offseason. Going to the occasional power skating lesson or attending one or two summer tournaments is fine, but skating all summer long can have two major consequences on your performance next season.

The first major problem players face after skating all summer is burn-out. Back when I was a 16 year old, I spent one summer skating nearly five days a week and I absolutely loved every minute of it. I wanted to be out on the ce more than anything and I really felt that all the extra skating paid off in September when I showed up to training camp already in “skating shape.”

The problem was that by the time it was January, I was burnt out. I hadn’t taken a break from playing after my previous season finished in March, so my season was already 16 months long by the time I got to January. That edge I thought I had on the competition back in the fall was gone and my on-ice performance started to go downhill fast.

The other problem with skating all summer long is that it dramatically increases your chances of getting injured. Skating is not exactly the most natural movement our bodies can do. Your hips are going to get incredibly tight over the course of the season from the explosive and repetitive nature of the skating stride. Your shoulders are going to be weak and unstable from being slightly rounded forward on the ice, which is only made worse by the fact that most of us have poor posture when sitting in front of the TV and computer.

If you sustained any sort of injury during the season, odds are that you came back faster than you should have, and you most likely have a lingering imbalance or weakness in your muscles or movements that is only going to be made worse by skating more. What your body needs most in the offseason is to rest and recuperate and then get back into balance. You need to loosen up your tight skating muscles and tighten up all your weak postural muscles during the early offseason if you want to be feeling and playing your best in the fall.

But getting a highly-motivated player who wants nothing more than to skate all summer long to get off the ice is a tough battle to win. And telling your son or daughter that they are going to avoid burnout and injury if they take some time away from the ice isn’t going to do a very good job of convincing them of it either. All kids are invincible, right? They don’t worry about the potential long-term effects of over-training on the ice. So how do we help them to see that getting off the ice this summer is essential to making them a better player?

You’ve got to sell them on it. Avoiding burnout and preventing injury aren’t “sexy.” But building battle-winning strength, first-step quickness, explosive starts, a laser-like powerful shot and overtime-dominating conditioning are. I’ve never met a young player who doesn’t want to be stronger, faster and fitter out on the ice. And to do that, they have to train off the ice instead of on the ice. By using a properly designed off-ice training program this summer, players will not only prevent burnout and injury, but they will also develop the strength, speed and stamina they need to shoot harder, skate faster, and be in game-shape when the puck drops on next season.

To get started with taking your game to the next level this off-season, visit: http://totalfemalehockey.com/off-season.shtml. Kim McCullough, MSc, YCS, is an expert in the development of aspiring young hockey players. Kim’s player development websites give coaches and parents of young players access to programs, articles and advice on how to help their players take their game to the next level safely and effectively.

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